Yara Belen Perez found guilty of capital murder in daughter's beating death

Yara Belen Perez looks back towards the area in the courtroom where family members were seated in the courtroom and begins to weep. Perez was found guilty of capital murder in the death of her daughter's beating death. The sentencing phase of the trial will begin Monday. (Ruben R Ramirez/El Paso Times)

Jurors on Friday convicted Yara Belen Perez of capital murder in the 2007 beating death of her 3-year-old daughter.

The conviction carries an automatic life sentence.

Perez, 30, was also convicted of injury to a child in the death of Jacqueline Gonzalez, whose body was found in the trunk of Perez's car on Nov. 19, 2007. She faces an additional prison sentence between five and 99 years.

Perez's boyfriend at the time, Francisco Castañeda, was convicted of capital murder in 2010 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Perez will become eligible for parole after serving 30 years.

After state District Judge Angie Juarez Barill read the jury's verdict, several members of Perez's family cried out in the courtroom and sobbed. Perez cried. One juror was also visibly emotional.

REPORTER

Adriana M. Chávez

Defense attorney Joe Spencer said several minutes after the verdict was announced that Perez was too devastated to speak.

"She knows her life is over," Spencer said.

Spencer also said he believed jurors should have acquitted Perez of the charges because she didn't cause Jacqueline's death.

During Perez's trial, El Paso County Medical Examiner Dr. Juan Contín testified that the girl had at least 70 bruises on her body and that many bruises overlapped one another.

Jacqueline died after an extreme blow that ruptured her small bowel and intestine, causing internal bleeding.

"This is a devastating verdict for Ms. Perez and her family," Spencer said. "It's quite obvious she's a battered woman. She's a victim like her daughter."

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Outside the courtroom, one of Perez's family members sobbed loudly and shouted, "No!" and then threw herself on the floor.

Jacqueline's father, Marco Antonio Gonzalez, her grandparents Elizabeth and Antonio "Tequila" Gonzalez and several other family members were in the courtroom when the jury's verdict was read. Many of them smiled at Assistant District Attorney Penny Hamilton after she turned to them. Afterward, they were escorted from the courtroom through a side door and didn't comment to news reporters.

Hamilton asked Barill to immediately order Perez into the custody of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, a request Spencer objected to, arguing Perez was not a flight risk and has attended every court hearing for the past five years.

Barill rejected Spencer's objection. About 15 minutes after the verdict, Perez was taken away by a bailiff. She was still in tears.

During closing arguments on Friday, Hamilton told jurors that Perez's story changed several times -- first when she frantically called Castañeda's sister, Abigail Castañeda, on the evening of Jacqueline's death, and then when she spoke to police homicide Detective Erik Messer during a videotaped statement.

An unidentified member of Yara Belen Perez' family is overcome after exiting the 346th District Court, after Perez was found guilty of capital murder and injury to child in the death of her daughter. The sentencing phase of the trial will begin Monday. (Ruben R Ramirez/El Paso Times)

Perez initially told Abigail Castañeda that Jacqueline had fallen off the balcony of Perez's Lower Valley apartment, and then changed the story, saying Jacqueline had fallen off a bed.

Abigail Castañeda called police after suspecting Jacqueline was dead in the apartment. When officers arrived, Perez allegedly told them her oldest daughter was the only child in the apartment.

At Abigail Castañeda's urging, officers looked through Perez's car and found Jacqueline's body in the trunk next to a red gasoline can.

"Thank God for Abigail Castañeda and her making that call because now we get to bring justice for Jackie," Hamilton told jurors.

But Spencer argued it was Abigail Castañeda, not Perez, who changed her story, pointing out she initially told police she entered Perez's apartment the night Jacqueline died.

She later told police that Perez didn't allow her inside.

"Abigail Castañeda has testified four times in this case and says something different each time," Spencer said during his closing argument. He added that Abigail Castañeda waited three hours to call police after receiving the first call from Perez.

Spencer then held up a photograph of Francisco Castañeda taken after his arrest.

"If you want to look into the eyes of a coldblooded child killer, you look at these eyes," Spencer told jurors.

The punishment phase of Perez's trial will begin at 9 a.m. Monday in the 346th District Court.

Adriana M. Chávez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6117. Follow her on Twitter @AChavezEPTimes.